


The Right Moves

by SevenSeaSaurus



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Colress being Colress, M/M, Medical Examination, Science, my own inability to properly write tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-31 16:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21449359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenSeaSaurus/pseuds/SevenSeaSaurus
Summary: "I've had quite the curious request made to me by a couple of most oddly dressed strangers."--Colress
Relationships: Achroma | Colress/Dulse
Kudos: 9





	The Right Moves

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this before Alola stops being relevant. Happy NaNoWriMo everyone.

The most important thing to learn when meeting new people is how to manipulate them.

A conversation, after all, is like a pokémon battle. Most people approach with a purely offensive attack, thinking that the winner is decided by the sheer number of hard hits. But real strategy comes with those tricky moves that deal no damage at all.

Faba was the easiest mark in the Aether Foundation, possibly in all of Alola. All he needed was a simple _flatter_. Get him talking about himself, slowly slip in your ideas as his own, and all of a sudden that risky project has a green light.

At least until Lusamine can take a good look at it. But powerful and intelligent as she was, Lusamine could still fall victim to a little clever strategy. _Flatter_ and _after you _together would do the trick; play to her passions, bow to her authority, and she’ll think you her dutiful slave and entrust you the keys to the kingdom.

Wicke was a bit more clever. She knew how to spot a _flatter_ or a _nasty plot_ and she would not relent without getting her own ends first. But_ confide_ and she would relent; they all would.

And Colress found it satisfying to have proof at last that he could apply this talent for subtle influence to ultra-dimensional aliens. 

It had not been easy. Teenagers are simple creatures; it would be straightforward enough to convince the chipper young cadet to look up at him with starry-eyed wonder, to see in him the genius who helped save her homeland. But her commanding officer was too protective to allow that. He saw straight through every attempt and kept a wary watch any time Colress drew near.

But even Dulse gave in eventually. The move that brought Colress the win this time was _helping hand_. Colress had dropped everything to assist the Ultra Recon Squad in their Alolan endeavors. Not that this had been any real sacrifice; the study of other dimensions was proving to be an even more interesting research subject than unlocking the untapped potential of pokemon. And Colress was starting to suspect that the two fields overlapped in interesting ways. His research would flourish with input from the Ultra Recon Squad, and in turn they would trust Colress as a vital ally.

Case and point: the alien was, at present, willingly following him down to the Aether labs. Yes, after a few months of denying Faba the honor, Dulse had finally agreed to permit Colress an examination.

“I will admit that I have no training in human anatomy or medicine,” Colress began. “I only ask that you let me indulge my curiosity.”

“Of course. I have already considered this.”

Dulse always seemed terse and cold. His emotions were nearly impossible to read, though his words and actions were easy enough to predict without them. Dulse was methodical, humble, and surprisingly subtle with his own manipulations. Not anywhere near the talent Colress had achieved, and still clumsy and alien in conversation, but respectable nonetheless.

“Well then. My intention was to take a blood sample, saliva swab, and a few hairs for analysis. I would also like to give a physical examination, including a look into your eyes with an ophthalmoscope to see if there are any interesting adaptations you may have for perpetual darkness.”

Dulse weighed the requests carefully. “I find this acceptable.”

Colress smiled and began arranging the instruments he would need.

“But,” Dulse started up again, “I will ask that you let me indulge my curiosity as well.”

Ah, _mirror move_. So Colress had underestimated him.

“What did you have in mind?”

“A physical examination, nothing more. I am certain there are scientists in my homeland who will want a full report on the biology of Alolan humans, but I have no use for samples just yet. And I do not believe I have the knowledge required to make use of your ‘ophthalmoscope.’”

There is no such thing as an easy win, is there.

Colress was not, shall we say, comfortable exposing himself to other people. He had many reasons to wear a long sleeved supercomputer even in warm and muggy Alola, and not all of those reasons had to do with its technological capabilities.

But he had been outplayed, and it was too late to back out and save face. He would have to endure the mild humiliation of inquisitive probing.

“Very well. We will begin with you, if you will be so kind as to undress to your level of comfort.”

Dulse motioned for Colress to dim the lights before removing his helmet, unwilling to expose his sensitive eyes to the harsh and sterile atmosphere of the lab. The dark was comforting, but a nuisance. It made reading instruments tricky.

Under other circumstances, Colress would have been unfazed had his subject decided to go buck naked. But here he was relieved to see that Dulse had only removed the outer uniform, leaving a cropped tank and tight-fitting shorts to preserve his modesty. Colress, after all, would only need to go so far as Dulse did.

“I have observed Alolan men out in public with their chests exposed. This is not acceptable in my culture; I apologize if it presents an inconvenience.”

“Not at all.”

In truth, Colress was perhaps a bit jealous. When it came time for his own examination he would, in the interest of fairness, feel compelled to take off the button down under his coat, and he had no further protection beyond it. Though he did not envy the constriction of a tight top pressed against his chest at all hours.

“I will start with samples,” Colress began.

Dulse did not hesitate as Colress swabbed his mouth and drew blood from his arm. And when Colress decided that he ought to collect a few skin shavings as well, Dulse did not complain. Colress would have to be similarly compliant when the roles switched.

For the physical examination, Colress was careful to do only those things he would not mind himself; _safeguard _was the move of choice for this round. He held out Dulse’s arm and looked closely at the skin with a magnifying glass. Dulse did not, as one might initially assume, have blue pigmented skin but rather lacked pigment entirely. Colress could see and trace every vein. He continued the survey with gentle and unobtrusive prods that revealed as many ribs as an ordinary human would have and a heart beating in the typical place at a typical tempo.

“Now the scope. I will shine a light into the back of your eye, and it may be unpleasant for you.”

“This is acceptable.”

Dusle flinched only a little as Colress held the ophthalmoscope up to first his left, then his right eye. Colress had only learned how to view and interpret eyes during a bout of preparatory research the night before, but he could not mistake the dazzling reflection of his scope’s own light; Dulse’s eyes had a tapetum lucidum, a structure found in pokémon with excellent night vision.

“Your eyes reflect the light back through themselves—a brilliant adaptation for one living in the dark. I wonder if you don’t have many more rod cells than cones. Ah, but I would not be able to tell without a microscope.”

Dulse nodded in agreement, though Colress could not be sure whether he fully understood.

“If you are finished then, there are a few things I would like to take a look at.”

So be it.

Colress removed his heavy coat, his shoes, his slacks, his button down shirt. The end result revealed more than Dulse had, but to leave anything on would give too little.

Dulse began the examination without redressing himself. Colress could not decide if this made the ordeal more or less comfortable.

The motions of this examination were similar to those Colress had enacted before. A close look at the skin, light presses and steady observation of the returning color, gentle tracing of bones and muscles. At first it seemed that Dulse was merely being careful, but when he cupped his hand around Colress’ cheek, when he leaned more closely to meet his subject’s gaze, Colress finally understood the nature of the game.

Dulse had followed Colress after denying Faba for a reason. He requested his own turn with the magnifying glass for a reason. He did so without redressing for a reason. His eyes and fingers lingered on Colress’ chest for a reason. He looked deep into yellow eyes for a reason.

And the curiosity he had spoken of was not quite scientific.

Ah, but this was a benefit to Colress. The most important thing to learn when meeting a new person is how to manipulate them, and Dulse had given Colress the ultimate instrument in manipulation.

_Helping hand_,_ flatter_, _confide_—all these moves have potential. But none are quite as potent as _attract_.

“What do you see?” Colress asked, adding now the slightest accent of flirtation.

No, Colress did not imagine it. Dulse blushed when addressed and took a step back.

“Your eyes are yellow. This is an unusual color among my people. They also do not dilate to the extent that ours do; an adaptation to the abundance of light.”

Indeed Dulse’s eyes were quite dilated, though it was unclear whether this was the result of the dimmed lab environment or the romantic tension.

“Are you satisfied with what you’ve seen?”

Colress had no reason to be embarrassed anymore. His half-dressed state was an asset to any effort aimed at exploiting Dulse’s infatuation.

“I am satisfied.” Dulse reached for his uniform, but paused just a moment longer. “Dr. Colress?”

“Yes?” Was he about to _confide_?

“Your attitude has changed suddenly. I admit that I am attracted to you, and I hope you are not trying to take advantage of my admiration.”

Dulse had always seemed terse and cold. And brutally honest. What had led him to this conclusion? _Foresight_? _Miracle eye_?

No, Dulse was right to call Colress out; conversation is not a pokémon battle.

“Nothing gets by you, does it. I have an intellectual interest in you as an interdimensional alien, and ‘taking advantage of your admiration’ does give me access to valuable research material.”

If Dulse was disappointed he did not show it.

“Although,” Colress continued, “I can’t see any reason why I shouldn’t take a romantic interest as well.”

Dulse was already redressing himself, and it seemed as though Colress had missed the opportunity. But before he departed from the lab, Dulse had one more thing to say:

“If you are honest in this pursuit, perhaps some other time you will teach me about Alolan courtship.”

It is not easy to manipulate aliens. Dulse walked out, leaving Colress alone to dress, to put his instruments back in their proper places, and to collect his thoughts.

Dulse was too clever to submit to the power of seduction, yet he was generous enough to allow Colress a second and more honest chance to play the lover. Of course, if Colress were to take that chance he would need to be especially careful and especially subtle; one wrong move would lose him the support of the Ultra Recon Squad entirely.

And so Colress busied himself with plans for how to proceed. Dulse had all but invited him on a date, and Colress would ensure that this lived up, at very least, to Alolan romantic standards. Or Unovan, rather, as there was Colress’ true homeland. Dulse and Zossie both had the peculiar habit of assuming ‘Alola’ named the whole world.

And Colress would succeed, that second time, in convincing Dulse that his feelings were true and pure. His charm was sure to accomplish that.

_Charm_; that was what he would use. _Charm, _Colress so cleverly reasoned. _Charm,_ Colress assured himself, would be the winning move and not, as he refused to consider, the possibility that Dulse had used _attract_ as well.


End file.
